Production

Lili is 17 years old. In occupied France, she encounters war before love, and joins the Resistance. Through the interconnecting destinies of its teenage heroes, Resistance tells the story of young people going to any lengths to defend their country.

From Paris to Bordeaux, from the North Region to the maquis of the Southwest, a handful of young people driven by a visceral urge, unite against the German oppressor and French collaborators. Overseen by a few adults, who do their best to temper their adolescent fervor, these young Resistance fighters commit unconditionally to serving a cause way beyond their years. Their missions are many and varied: from finding a safe place to print illegal newspapers to rescuing English aviators who have gone down in France, and safely getting them to the Spanish border, or breaking out comrades held captive by the French police, attacking German patrolsâ€¦

But the battle is uneven: these few youths, whose means of action are rudimentary at best, struggle against a ruthless enemy. The bonds of friendship and sometimes love, that form among members of the group are tragically severed by the occupantâ€™s pitiless repression. As events unfold, many are those who fall in the hands of the Germans, are commonly punished with torture and death. It is the terrible fate of these young heroes of the shadows that we wish to convey.

As for the survivors, they walk away from their years of commitment with a kind of bitterness. In 1944, after four years of clandestine struggle, 21-year-old Lili, the seriesâ€™ heroin, confides in her young friend Jeannot, 19: â€śWhen I came back to Paris and saw people strolling in the sunshine, lovers kissing, life going on, I realized I too wanted to have a taste of thatâ€¦â€ť Conscious of having grown up too fast, Lili becomes determined to make her teenage dreams come true, â€śgo to the movies, take walks with a boy, satisfy my hunger. Not much! Except that I havenâ€™t done any of that in four yearsâ€¦â€ť

Paris, the night of November 11th, 1940 (Armistice Day). LILI, 17, and CHRISTINA, 24, place a spray of flowers at the foot of Clemenceauâ€™s statue. Pursued by French police, Lili is caught, while Christina manages to get away.

Bethune, Pas-de-Calais region: As she drives a van toward Paris, SYLVETTE LELEU, 30s, and THE KID, 17, are busy planning the escape from France of three British aviators.

Once theyâ€™ve reached Paris, Sylvette and The Kid drive the aviators to a secure location. One of them is dropped off at a dispensary, another is taken to the home of The Contessa, an elegant woman in her forties, and the third is hidden by PAULETTE, the kindly madam of a brothel.

Finally back home, a modest garret she shares with her roommate Cristina, Lili gets a visit from her parents who, having found out their daughter has been involved in â€ścommunistâ€ť marches, want to take her back to Nice, in the South of France. Lili refuses. Powerless to change her mind, Liliâ€™s parents leave.

Next day, on the train to Vierzon, as she escorts the three British aviators (now disguised as civilians), Lili encounters Jeannot, who is as determined as ever to get to London. Lili and the three Englishmen reach Vierzon, where they are hidden by an abbot, who takes them to the banks of the river Cher the very next day. From there, a smuggler leads them to the Free Zone. Lili returns to Paris.

December 1940. Pourtalet Pass in the Pyrenees Mountains. Jeannot is arrested by French customs, as he attempts to cross the border into Spain. Instead, he will spend the next two weeks at the Pau police station.

Douarnenez at dawn. Weil-Curiel and Gaveau, along with a few other youths, are about to board the trawler that is to take them to England, when the Germans suddenly descend upon them. Lili manages to run off in one direction, while Weil-Curiel and Gaveau take off in another. Unaware that Gaveau is a traitor, Weil-Curiel reveals to him that he will head to Toulouse, in hopes of reaching England via Spain. Gaveau decides to return to Paris.

Boris and Jeannot go to Eymoutiers, near Limoges, to the home of THE PROF. The Prof forges papers for Boris, who makes his way back to Paris without any trouble. Jeannot stays with The Prof, and the two of them head up to the Limousin Mountains â€śto give the Krauts a hard timeâ€ť.

Meanwhile, in Toulouse, Weil-Curiel is arrested by the Gestapo â€“ a new deception by the traitor Gaveau.

In Bethune, the Gestapo arrests Sylvette. Her children, on their way to spend a holiday with their mother, watch her arrest from afar, in shock. Shoved into a car that quickly drives off, Sylvette canâ€™t even give them one last kiss goodbye.

Episode 3

June 1941. Breaching the German-Russian pact, Germany invades the USSR. In the Fresne prison, Claude and Ninette get married. Ninette tells her new husband that, very soon, he will be set free.

In the Lardy Forest, the young crewmembers practice handling grenades, making Molotov cocktails, train sabotage, etcâ€¦ They debate over whether one should attack any German soldier, even if heâ€™s just a grunt?

Lili joins Victoria in Lyon, determined to keep up the struggle against the Germans, no matter what. Victoria charges her with the responsibility of reproducing and distributing a new resistance pamphlet entitled Combat. It is being printed in an illegal workshop, by THE PRINTER and his young apprentice VELIN, 21. Lili stays at Victoriaâ€™s, where she encounters her teenage daughter MIREILLE, as well as two men, BERTIN and MULTON.

In Lyon, Lili is in charge of bringing food to the prisoners. She is staying with Victoria, and The Captain who has severed all ties with the Vichy government. There, she encounters Bertin and a handsome stranger named DIDOT (20). Victoria charges Lili with the mission of going to Paris and distributing the latest issue of Combat. Next morning, Velin gives Lili counterfeit identification papers. Her name is now Alice Le Gosse. He also gives her sheets of cardboard, on which each page of Combat has been carved out, thus enabling her to reproduce the paper in Paris.

Meanwhile, in the Limousin Mountains, Jeannot, The Prof and half a dozen resistance fighters, carry on their clandestine sabotage missions and print and distribute pamphlets calling for resistance.

In the Doubs region, Fabien and a few patriots from the Valmy Company are organizing acts of resistance against the occupant. One night, the crew falls into a trap. Fabien is wounded, but manages to get away.

February 1943, German troops have just capitulated in Stalingrad. Near Marseilles, the Gestapo arrests Multon, one of the Combat resistance fighters whom Lili met at Victoriaâ€™s.

In Lyon, Lili finds Victoriaâ€™s daughter Mireille. They go to the printer Velinâ€™s, where they meet RENOUVIN (35), a former Action FranĂ§aise member, now in charge of the Free Combat Groups. Together, they plan to break Victoria out of the mental hospital where she is being held, pretending to have lost her mind. It is organized that Lili will stay at the home MARYKA, 40s, and her English companion, JIM. Maryka acts as a go-between, in charge of gathering information from THE BIGWIG, whose silhouette we see, while his face is never revealed. She encodes the information and passes it on to Jim, who sends it to London in Morse code, from a clandestine radio.

At the Gestapo headquarters, Multon faces the cruel KLAUS BARBIE. Interrogated without violence, Multon confesses to everything: his work at Combat, his role, his contactsâ€¦ while MOOG, a French Alsatian, K30 Gestapo agent, carefully observes him.

Lili visits Victoria in the mental ward and reports her observations to Renouvin, Mireille and Velin. The breakout is scheduled for Christmas night. It is a success. Maryka and Jim celebrate Liliâ€™s 19th birthday, and give her earrings exactly like the ones The Kid gave her. Lili is deeply moved. Velin turns up with a mission for Lili: she is to bring a suitcase full of the latest issue of Combat to Victoria, who awaits her in Marseilles. Meanwhile, Maryka and Jimâ€™s coded radio messages are being intercepted by a truck outside, where German operators work to locate the illegal radio transmitter.

Back in Paris, where Fabien now lives under a false identity, with his wife and daughter. Despite his new appearance (glasses and a beard), he is arrested by French police, in the Metro.

In Marseilles, Victoria meets Bertin by the seashore and promises him an upcoming delivery of the new issue of Combat. She then meets with MAX, 40s, a long scarf wrapped around his neck, who lets her know that money is on its way to her from London. Her last meeting is with Multon. She is unaware that Moog, the K30 Gestapo agent, is watching them. Moog also spots Lili, approaching with a suitcase for Victoria, filled with copies of the new issue of Combat. Later, Victoria is carrying the suitcase when she spots Multon in a Marseilles street with the Gestapo agents, all heading for Bertinâ€™s home. She immediately turns away and rushes off. The Germans descend upon Bertinâ€™s home and start searching it. Bertin is wounded in the thigh, but manages to escape.

In the Maquis, The Prof and his crew, now hundreds strong, engage in more and more actions against the Germans: sabotage of communication lines, of means of transportation, of infrastructures, destruction of factoriesâ€¦ Mission orders from London are transmitted to The Prof through Combat.

A few weeks later, Lili and Victoria meet in a remote house in the Burgundy countryside â€“ her new hideout. Lili tells her she is headed back to Paris. As for Victoria, she is going to the city of MĂ˘con, to attend a meeting of the leaders of the United Resistance Movements. When Victoria reaches the meeting place, a horde of Gestapo agents capture her. Thrown in prison, she hangs herself in her cell.

Next day, Lili boards a train to Paris. She sees Didot, whom she met at Victoriaâ€™s, being arrested by Moog and the traitor Multon. Lili heads to Chalon, at the same time as the Gestapo agents, to get to Maryka and warn everyone. Lili finds out about Victoriaâ€™s arrest, but knows nothing of her suicide. Maryka sets up a meeting between Lili and The Bigwig.

Next day, Lili goes to the old Traboules neighborhood of Lyon. She reaches a meeting place where two young men in their early twenties, RAVANEL and MORLOT, are waiting for her. They take her to an empty room with a single window overlooking the river SaĂ´ne, where they leave her by herself. The Bigwig turns up andâ€¦ itâ€™s her own father! He is a Resistance fighter, just like her. The Bigwigâ€™s wife, Liliâ€™s mother, knows nothing. After their emotional reunion, Liliâ€™s father leaves, and Lili remains with Ravanel to give him a description of the two Gestapo agents she saw capturing Didot on the train. Ravanel will get back in touch with her in a few days, so she can confirm the two menâ€™s identity. They part ways.

Maryka, Jim and Lili send a coded message to London: the traitor Multon must be killed. Outside, the Gestapo agents locate the building, then the apartment from where the message is being emitted. They burst in. Maryka escapes out the window, but Lili is overcome with vertigo and stops short. She and Jim are captured. Lili is brought in front of Klaus Barbie, who asks her to say whether she recognizes the people on the photos he shows her. A photo of Bertin: Lili nods yes; Victoria: yes; Multon: yes. Barbie calls in Multon, who confirms that he has indeed seen her before, at Victoriaâ€™s. She is shown more photos. When she sees the last one, Lili has a hard time holding back a hiccup: it is of her father, The Bigwig.

Episode 6

Held by the SS, Lili leads Moog and Multon to the hideout where she met with her father. Thankfully, it is empty. Lili suddenly makes a dash for the window, breaks through the glass and leaps into the river SaĂ´ne, making her getaway. She has overcome her fear of heights.

Meanwhile, in the town of Issoudun, Jeannot and his crew of Resistance fighters rob a bank. Jeannot decides to return to Paris, to visit his parents, whom he hasnâ€™t seen in three years.

In Lyon, Lili hides out at Velinâ€™s place, but the police are combing the city in search of her. Velin forges papers for her, so she can get back to Paris. In the Paris-bound train, Lili is overcome with emotion when she runs into Jeannot.

Meanwhile, Fabien and his comrades escape from the Romainville fortress, where they were being held prisoner.

Jeannot joins the Free Combat Groups, the main Paris Resistance unit under the leadership of Ravanel and Morlot. They are planning the upcoming escape of a Resistance leader, who is being held captive by the Germans. Jeannot tries to convince Lili to take part in the operation, but she refuses. Unlike most people her age, itâ€™s been four years since sheâ€™s had the chance to go to the movies, walk hand in hand with a boy or get enough to eat. She wants to give up the fight. But she finally gives in â€“ this will be her last operation. Jeannot reveals that the prisoner is The Bigwig, her father. Next day, the breakout fails. Thankfully, no one is killed or captured. But Lili is now determined to break her father out of prison.

Meanwhile, at the print shop in Lyon, Maryka and Velin proudly examine the latest issue of Combat. But the militia shows up. Velin and Maryka try to get away, but are soon caught. Velin kills himself, while Maryka is shot point-blank by a militiaman.

June 6, 1944. D-Day. In Paris, Lili heads to Mrs. Kirchenâ€™s to tell her the good news, but doesnâ€™t find her. The concierge coldly tells her that Mrs. Kirchen was rounded up and sent to Auschwitz. On June 28, 1944, Jeannot, Morlot and three other men enter the Ministry of Information and try to capture Philippe Henriot, the Vichy Governmentâ€™s State Secretary of Information and Propaganda. He resists and is killed on the spot. The Resistance fighters manage to flee. Another day, the Free Combat fighters succeed in rescuing Liliâ€™s father. He and his daughter have an emotional reunion. He goes to hide out the countryside until the end of the war, and orders Lili to stop the fight and wait for the Americans, who will soon reach Paris. A few days later, Lili and Jeannot are at the movies when French police members of the Special Brigade arrest them. In an office at police headquarters, Lili confidently defies POLICE CHIEF DAVID, head of the Special Brigades. Jeannotâ€™s full name is revealed for the first time: it is Jean Frydman.

Three months later, in Bobigny, Jeannot is thrown into a train full of people headed for Buchenwald. There, he finds Lili who, like him, has been horribly tortured. That night, in the middle of nowhere, they manage to escape.

â€śThe historical context is accurately rendered, the episodes are well written and brilliantly delivered by Pauline Burletâ€ťTELE LOISIRS

â€śResistance touches us with its sensitive portraits of teenagers growing up too fast in violent timesâ€ťTELERAMA

â€śThis high-quality fiction, in the hands of screenwriter Dan Franck, is served by actors who are mostly unknown, but excellent."TELE STAR

â€śThanks to meticulous directing and a fascinating, quick-paced screenplay, this miniseries inspired by real events captivates us and reminds us how courageous those young French people were who died for their country.â€ťTELE CABLE SAT

â€śA prestigious series written by Dan Franck for the 70th anniversary of the French Liberation. Big budget, great actors, a magnificent subject.â€ťLE FIGARO